Gaming devices such as slot machines have achieved a predominant presence in the gaming industry. A measure of their success can be attributed to the creative ways of providing an award to a player making a wager of value and the accompanying audio and visual presentations to create a unique, thematic, and exciting gaming experience for the player. Slot machines are no longer limited to a base game of pulling a handle to spin reels in order to line up winning symbols on a single payline. Gaming devices now have bonus games, bonus symbols, and other ways of winning or increasing an award, thereby, increasing the excitement for the player.
The secondary or bonus game can be an extension of the primary or base game or a separate game altogether with a different theme. Besides generating an award in the base game, the presence of a particular symbol or predetermined combination of symbols on a payline may also initiate a bonus game. This triggering event temporarily stalls the base game and transitions from the base game to the bonus game. The bonus game usually provides an award to a player based on play in the bonus game producing a significantly higher level of player excitement than the base game. The bonus game may also be accompanied by more attractive or unique video displays and audio performances. Upon the completion of the bonus game, the player is returned to the base game.
Known slot games have ways for the base game to increase a bonus game award or average expected award or value. One way in which the bonus game award is increased is determined by the method in which the bonus game is initiated. For example, certain wins in bonus games that are triggered by line wins are multiplied by the amount wagered for that line.
One of the ways of providing a larger award to the player is through the use of multipliers. A multiplier increases the award amount in proportion to the value of the multiplier. For example, a “2×” multiplier pays twice the normal award value. A “3×” multiplier pays three times the normal award value. Thus, a multiplier can substantially increase a player's award. It should be appreciated that multipliers are an effective means of substantially increasing an award and elevating a player's level of excitement and enjoyment.
Among other scenarios, multipliers can be randomly generated, appear in a winning combination, or be awarded based on the amount of the player's wager. Moreover, the presence of a multiplier symbol may increase the award earned in an immediate event by the value of the multiplier or be applied to later portions of the game. U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,207, for example, discloses a game that employs an incrementing multiplier that increases throughout the game according to the generation of certain symbols or symbol combinations on the reels and in conjunction with the player betting the maximum amount.
It is desirable for a gaming device to provide an opportunity for the player to enhance the bonus game award based on an increased base game wager and effectively communicate that opportunity to the player in the base game. It has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,925 to base an increase in the probability of winning in the bonus game on the amount of the wager in the base game according to a series of complex paytables. However, a multiplier advertised in the base game and applied directly to the bonus game award would allow a player to more easily understand the advantages in a bonus game based on the player's wager in the base game.